Yesterday, May 3rd, the Duke of York was in Ganganagar, near Kolkata and visited a childcare home and he visited Nijoloy,
the home of the Women's Interlink Foundation in Mdhyam Gram on the outskirts of Kolkata.

According to the article below Andrew presented two of Sarah's books to two children saying "My children have sent these
books which are written by their mother (Sarah). This is a gift from my family to your family". Nice idea!

Prince Andrew turned down the offer of a free bed at the British High Commissioner's luxury residence and instead booked into a £1,000-a-night hotel, at the taxpayers expense.
The Duke of York, who is on a week long tour of India as part of the Queen's diamond jubilee celebration, spent three nights at one of New Delhi's most expensive hotels, Leela Palace.
Even with a discount the stay is believed to have cost taxpayers just over £3,000.

Apparently even Charles stayed at the official residence himself in the past. Its unnecessary expense like this which give the RF a bad name. Bit of a contrast to Princess Anne opting for a less luxurious and expensive room because she wouldn't be up in time to enjoy the view. I really do think Andrew really doesn't care much about how much he costs the public.

Its unnecessary expense like this which give the RF a bad name. Bit of a contrast to Princess Anne opting for a less luxurious and expensive room because she wouldn't be up in time to enjoy the view. I really do think Andrew really doesn't care much about how much he costs the public.

And there you have it.
All the positive PR Andrew has garnered from his trip will be undone, due to thoughtless behavior like this!

And this is what happens every single time he leaves the country. The thing I don't get is that he knows everyone is watching what he does yet he still does the same mistake time and time again. He could have stayed at the place which wouldn't cost the taxpayers anything if it was good enough for Charles it should have been good enough for Andrew. Yes the paper picks on the Yorks but they are the ones giving them the ammunition!

I actually read this story first in the Sunday Times which reported all the same facts as the Daily Mail article which makes me think they must be pretty much true as the Times is usually good with its facts.
As much as Andrew should be responsible for this own actions I wonder why he is allowed to do things like this. I know royal Household staff can't say anything too bad to a Royal but someone needs to sit him down for a serious chat. If he doesn't want to stay in still rather luxurious but free accommodation then he should pay for it himself!!
The only possible excuse is that somebody else was already staying at the official residence (Which hasn't been mentioned in any of the reports). However IMO even then Andrew could have pulled rank as a royal and the whoever else was staying sent out to a hotel to book into a room that would most likely have been much much cheaper as Andrew booked one of the most expensive possible.
I don't mind necessary expenditure on royal events etc even for Andrew, i've understood that at times private jets are a necessity but in this case its just unnecessary, luxurious expenditure.

Prince Andrew has been accused of ‘extraordinary crassness’ after jetting into an Indian slum on a private plane.
The Duke of York was visiting Mumbai’s Dharavi slum – the setting for the hit film Slumdog Millionaire – as part of an official tour of India to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
But last night it emerged he had chosen to fly to the home of some of the world’s poorest people in a private plane he chartered at taxpayers’ expense.

In addition i though this part of the article as most telling:
On the first day of his tour, Prince Andrew reportedly turned up late to a garden party before snubbing reporters

Some journalists were allegedly escorted from the premises for trying to talk to him, with his spokesman reported to have told them: ‘The royalty doesn’t talk to the press.’
The next day the Hindustan Times, one of India’s leading newspapers, ran the headline ‘Duke Andrew gives the royal ignore’.
Palace officials strongly denied that he was late, that reporters were escorted out for trying to talk to him or that they were told ‘the royalty doesn’t talk to the press’.
Meanwhile, in Britain, his week-long visit became the focus of ridicule after his ex-wife tweeted about his ‘gruellingly busy’ schedule.
‘The Duke has been a hit in India and has made such an impact on behalf of the UK,’ the Duchess of York wrote. ‘India is so taken by him.
'Great Britain should know of his committment (sic) and hard work to this country!’
Her remarks sparked dozens of online comments. One wrote: ‘Must have been really hard for him. Poor bugger.’ Another asked the Duchess: ‘Are you being paid for this?’

If Andrew's staff did talk to the media like that it shows his superior attitude is rubbing off on his staff lol!

Wow I didn't think he could be even more stupid. Andrew really needs to stop going overseas cause how has this helped anyone? Of course Andrew needed a private plane he always does he isn't paying for it so why would he care? If he had to put his hand in his own pocket for this stuff he would soon stop it. Sounds like his staff enjoyed the hotel as much as he did. Of course he will keep on doing these things as long as the bills get paid by someone else. The Queen needs to do something about him. As for Sarah and her comments she really shouldn't have said anything.

That article is rather disingenuous on the Daily Mail's part. Prince Harry chartered a private jet for his tour of the Caribbean and it wasn't queried by any of the press. The DM really has it in massively for Andrew. I'm not saying he hasn't made mistakes, but every single week they publish stories about his transport in particular.

I would love to hear why he refused to stay at the High Commission, though. I can't imagine staying in a Lutyens designed mansion would have been any sort of hardship.

6 cities in 6 days - cannot be done by any scheduled indian airline within the timescale. The plane didn't touchdown in the slums - it arrived at the city airport. DM always always needs a victim. I feel sorry for him.

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I agree that the private jet was the only way to do 6 cities in 6 days and I'm not in for criticizing the Royals for using such planes when necessary. However IMO the hotel is unnecessary, if there was a fully valid reason Andrew couldn't have stayed there then his press advisers would have let it be known by now.
However I am always amazed at how often Andrew uses private jets compared to others for example Princess Anne. Why not schedule the trip so it doesn't take in 6 cities in 6 days, I wonder if Andrew makes his schedule so it allows for such excuses? Just a thought...
I don't feel sorry for Andrew because he has done stuff like this far too often now, he clearly loves the luxury life and is happy to let the taxpayers pay for it as he feels they should.

All the BRF who make overseas visits try to cram as much into their visit as possible. Keeping the visits quite short is probably an attempt to keep costs down, ironically. All the security people who travel with Andrew (which given the part of the world he's currently in would be considerable) all have to be put up in good hotels, all their meals have to be provided and they get something like £150 per day of spending allowances for expenses. I read about Eugenie recently that when she was backpacking in Thailand on her gap year she did as most backpackers do, economy flights and hostels as a place to stay. The protection officers, however, had to fly business class and stay in at least 4 star hotels everywhere they went.

But, ultimately, as we saw in the recent BBC documentary, all transport decisions for the RF are taken by the Queen. Andrew will have had to put his case to HM as to why he needed to charter a plane. So if Andrew's mis-using helicopters and planes, he's doing so with the Queen's permission.